Episode #257 - Too Early to Shed Hunt - Show some compassion!

Published: 2025-01-19
Episode page
Duration: 88 min

In this episode

360-blinds

• Don recalls trying to buy the entire 360 Blinds company outright from Mark Fisher because he recognized how special the blinds were early on. 25:00
• Terry announces that Mark Fisher’s nephew Merrill Fisher is launching a marketing consulting arm within 360 Blinds to give dealers more branding and marketing resources. 25:28
• Terry reveals 360 Blinds is launching a new product he previewed at a secret location, debuting publicly at the Shipshewana Show. 27:30

cold-weather

• Don says he used to not understand why older people wintered in Florida or Texas, but now he’s ready to join them and escape the cold. 0:58

consultant-fraud

• Don warns that people have falsely claimed to be trained by him as Whitetail consultants; anyone genuinely affiliated with him is listed on his website. 9:39
• Don explains any legitimate consulting plan from his team arrives in his signature spiral-bound notebook that he personally reviews and mails; a plan not in that notebook signals a fraudulent claim of training by him. 10:25

deer-management

• Don argues state DNRs’ refusal to manage deer herds for quality — not landowners or fence-builders — is the real cause of fewer mature bucks. 40:32

deer-nutrition

• Travis from Harrington, Kansas asks whether to cut back on high-protein feed in late March or early April so fawns aren’t too large for does at birth. 54:29

events

• Don announces that next Friday he’ll be at JB’s event in Mount Hope, Ohio, encouraging families to bring their kids to hear his message. 16:59
• Don announces he’ll be in Oswego, Kansas on March 1 for the Kansas Whitetail Summit. 22:57
• Don announces that he and Terry will host a live Chasing Giants podcast at the Iowa Deer Classic in Des Moines, Iowa in early March. 23:12
• Terry announces the team will travel to the Northeast for a live podcast in July as they try to reach more regions this year. 24:18

food-plots

• Terry says melting snow exposed his food plots’ remaining forage, which is a relief since his soybeans are already gone. 1:52

fruit-trees

• Brad Hunt from Pourum, Oklahoma asks whether Don removes cedar trees within a certain radius of his fruit trees, since cedars can carry diseases that kill fruit trees. 48:46

higgins-hot-seat

• Terry jokes that he’d hoped to reveal Don always puts his right sock on before his left before hunting, but last week’s Higgins Hot Seat was a total dud. 28:06 (light moment)

hunting-ethics

• Don says hunters who bloodthirstily push stressed deer off their land chasing early sheds show no compassion, urging people instead to be conservationists. 6:34
• Terry states that sitting on a property line facing and shooting across into a neighbor’s land is unethical, disagreeing with Don’s more permissive view. 43:07

hunting-fences

• Don predicts that within twenty years, high-fenced hunting properties will become common throughout the Midwest as landowners try to secure fewer mature deer. 41:02
• Don says that five years ago only about 10% of his consulting clients would consider a high fence, but today 85-90% are open to one. 41:16

illinois-regulations

• Jack Bowers from Edwards, Illinois asks whether Illinois hunting regulations can be reversed and made great again, given groups like the Iowa Bowhunters Association. 51:36

land-consulting

• Don says he consulted on four properties this week, including three in Illinois all owned coincidentally by landowners from Florida. 26:55
• Don says he’d rather consult on a brand-new property than a long-owned one, since clients without preconceived ideas about deer movement are easier to influence. 70:56

lesters-feet

• Terry announces the Lester’s Feet website is back online, now at lester’sfeet.com instead of the old lester’sfeet.org domain. 77:12

live-event

• Terry announces uncertainty over whether next week’s live event will be video-captured, warning viewers that the episode might be audio-only. 76:26

midwest-land-group

• Midwest Land Group is expanding as promised, moving further east into states like Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and possibly Alabama or Mississippi. 43:54
• Terry notes Midwest Land Group sponsored the lanyards at the ATA Show, so their logo appears in attendee photos from the event. 45:18

podcast-etiquette

• Terry says Eric’s woodsmanship question was great but its tone was out of line, telling him to work on his communication skills. 63:33

shed-hunting

• Don argues it’s too early to shed hunt because he believes more than 95% of bucks still carry their antlers, so hunters searching now needlessly stress deer. 3:54

supplemental-feeding

• Don recommends supplemental feeding now, since late January is when natural food is scarcest for deer and the most critical time to feed. 74:53
• Levi Ochsner from Sarinville, Nebraska asks whether mature Whitetail bucks in bait states prefer corn on the ground or don’t mind eating from feeders. 71:51

timber-management

• Terry toured a Western Kentucky property and called it the best logging job he’s ever seen, praising the crew’s clean ruts and top-notch equipment. 14:07

trail-camera-history

• Don recalls shooting his first 200-inch buck in 2004 using just one film-based trail camera, illustrating how differently deer hunters tracked bucks two decades ago. 36:36

trail-cameras

• Terry asks if Don’s view on trail camera data has changed since the Smokey and Trump years, given he now uses cell cam intel to plan hunts. 29:54

tsi

• Tim Gwen asks whether to let a hard-cut TSI sanctuary grow naturally into thicket or to plant nut-bearing trees like pin oaks in the openings for a deer sanctuary. 46:01

winter-weather

• Don spent over three hours running his skid loader to move a heavy snowfall’s worth of snow off his property this winter. 1:11

winter-wheat

• Don has roughly 100 acres of winter wheat on his section that’s now exposed by melting snow, giving deer a green food source through late winter. 2:21

woodsmanship

• Don relays his mentor Al Foster’s point that the best deer hunters were killing big bucks long before trail cameras or food plots existed as tools. 64:52
• Don says the best woodsmen aren’t deer hunters but trappers, since trapping demands reading sign, terrain, and vegetation across multiple species. 66:09
• Eric Guzman from Woodstock, Illinois asks whether Don considers himself a woodsman and would teach woodsmanship or bring on a proven woodsman guest to mentor new hunters. 60:58

Deer activity

• Houston (harvest) 15:17
• Smokey (harvest) 30:23
• Trump (harvest) 30:48
• Babe (harvest) 33:16
• Zacchaeus (harvest) 33:16
• unnamed buck (harvest) 36:36

Listener questions

Question: Terry asks if Don’s view on trail camera data has changed since the Smokey and Trump years, given he now uses cell cam intel to plan hunts. 29:54 — asked by Terry

• Answer: Don says better cell-camera technology, not a change of heart, let him pinpoint bucks like Smokey precisely. 30:11
• Answer: He now feels using cell cams to catch a buck moving to bed borders on cheating. 32:46

Question: Tim Gwen asks whether to let a hard-cut TSI sanctuary grow naturally into thicket or to plant nut-bearing trees like pin oaks in the openings for a deer sanctuary. 46:01

• Answer: Don recommends planting potted trees (not seedlings) like pin oaks with tree tube shelters after a TSI cut, since potted trees keep an intact root system needed to establish new species and build a strong sanctuary. 47:22

Question: Brad Hunt from Pourum, Oklahoma asks whether Don removes cedar trees within a certain radius of his fruit trees, since cedars can carry diseases that kill fruit trees. 48:46 — asked by Brad Hunt

• Answer: Don explains the culprit is cedar apple rust fungus, which only threatens apple trees (not pears or persimmons) and can kill them; he recommends choosing resistant apple varieties rather than removing nearby cedars. 49:31

Question: Jack Bowers from Edwards, Illinois asks whether Illinois hunting regulations can be reversed and made great again, given groups like the Iowa Bowhunters Association. 51:36 — asked by Jack Bowers

• Answer: Don says reform requires a lobbyist and, crucially, Farm Bureau support, since Farm Bureau is Illinois’ most powerful lobby and could push positive regulation changes if aligned with hunters’ goals. 53:00

Question: Travis from Harrington, Kansas asks whether to cut back on high-protein feed in late March or early April so fawns aren’t too large for does at birth. 54:29 — asked by Travis

• Answer: Don says no — based on decades with captive deer, doe nutrition late in gestation doesn’t meaningfully affect fawn birth size or cause fawning trouble, unlike in cattle. 57:57

Question: Eric Guzman from Woodstock, Illinois asks whether Don considers himself a woodsman and would teach woodsmanship or bring on a proven woodsman guest to mentor new hunters. 60:58 — asked by Eric Guzman

• Answer: Don says yes, he considers himself a woodsman — his outdoor career began as a trapper and small-game hunter, where true woodsmanship skills like reading sign and terrain are learned. 61:17

Question: Levi Ochsner from Sarinville, Nebraska asks whether mature Whitetail bucks in bait states prefer corn on the ground or don’t mind eating from feeders. 71:51 — asked by Levi Ochsner

• Answer: Don says it depends on the individual buck — those raised around feeders as fawns adapt easily, but personally he’d guess mature bucks generally prefer eating corn off the ground. 73:01

Prayer Time

Scripture: Matthew
Theme: living-testimony
Eric Perry reflects on Ohio State players and a Texas player publicly crediting God after the college football semifinal, then reads Matthew 5:14-16 about being the light of the world and letting good works glorify God. 83:21

Scripture: Romans
Theme: boldness-in-the-gospel
Eric Perry points to Romans 1:16 — not being ashamed of the gospel — as the theme behind athletes publicly praising God, reading the verse in full and urging listeners to be equally bold in sharing their faith. 85:33

Theme: intercession-for-disaster-victims
Eric Perry prays for those affected by the Western wildfires and other natural disasters across the country, and for the families connected to Lester’s Feet, asking God for comfort and healing. 87:34

Don and Terry discussed winter deer management, with Don arguing it was too early to shed hunt since he believed over 95% of bucks still carried antlers, and criticizing hunters who stressed deer chasing early sheds. Don recommended supplemental feeding given late January’s scarce natural food, and discussed cell camera use, saying better technology rather than a change of heart let him pinpoint bucks precisely, though he now felt using cell cams to catch deer moving to bed bordered on cheating. He also warned about impostors falsely claiming his consulting training, noting legitimate plans arrive in his signature spiral-bound notebook. Listener questions covered TSI sanctuary planting, cedar apple rust near fruit trees, Illinois hunting regulation reform requiring Farm Bureau support, late-gestation doe nutrition, and woodsmanship, which Don traced to his roots as a trapper. Eric Perry led a prayer segment referencing college football players crediting God and praying for wildfire victims.

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.